Etymology

automotive

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Today it means: Having the ability to move by itself; self-propelled or self-propelling. Full definition →

English motive ← Middle English motif ← Late Latin mōtīvum
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
  2. Proto-Indo-European*tó-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*autós
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
  5. Ancient Greekαὖ (aû)
  6. Ancient Greekτόν (tón)
  7. Ancient Greekαὐτός (autós)
  8. Ancient Greekαὐτο- (auto-)
  9. Englishauto-
  10. Anglo-Normanmotif
  11. Middle Frenchmotif
  12. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
  14. Proto-Italic*moweō
  15. Latinmoveō
  16. Latinmōtus
  17. Late Latinmōtīvum
  18. Middle Englishmotif
  19. Englishmotive
  20. English todayautomotive

From auto- + motive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.